Ukraine’s air force says that due to a “serious shortage” of interceptor missiles, none of the 23 ballistic missiles fired by Russia at kyiv on Sunday evening were shot down.
At least 12 people have been killed in the second large-scale Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital in a week, kyiv’s top military administrator said. Three other people were killed in the kyiv region, emergency services added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his allies to make “firm decisions” at this week’s NATO summit to equip kyiv with air defenses.
After the attack, he said the Ukrainian military had managed to intercept cruise missiles and drones – but not ballistic missiles.
Sunday’s “massive Russian attack” consisted of 68 missiles and 351 drone strikes, he said in an article on X.
kyiv’s top military administrator, Timur Tkachenko, said 49 people had been injured in the capital, with Zelenksy saying there had been 16 injured across the region.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the attack was repelled by “aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, as well as mobile firing groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.”
It said preliminary data, recorded at 08:30 local time (06:30 BST), showed 37 missiles and 326 drones had been shot down or eliminated.
The Ukrainian leader warned that Moscow would continue to strike residential buildings as long as Patriot defensive missiles “remain in the stocks of our allies.”
It was another frightening night for residents of the capital, with loud explosions and Ukrainian air defenses booming in action.
Once again, many residents sought refuge underground.
Widespread destruction was visible Monday morning. Three large apartment buildings in the city partially collapsed, some were directly hit by missiles.
Rescuers are trying to reach people trapped inside the ruins.
The strikes hit several buildings in the city, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said, adding that fires broke out in some apartment complexes.
Warehouses and a garage-workshop were also damaged, he said.
Helicopters shuttle through the sky, carrying water from the river to put out fires in the city.
Hours before the latest strikes, Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing a second “massive strike” on kyiv after Thursday’s attacks that killed 30 people.
After the barrage of drone and missile strikes Thursday evening, tens of thousands of residents were evacuated to subway stations around the city as alarms sounded early Friday morning.
Ukraine accused Moscow of deliberately attacking civilian areas in the attack, which left at least 30 people dead. Russia said it targeted military and energy bases in retaliation for recent Ukrainian strikes on power plants and energy facilities on Russian territory.
Ukraine continued its drone attacks on critical Russian energy facilities, with power temporarily cut in the city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
In addition to the Ukrainian strikes in Crimea, the Baltic oil terminals of Vysotsk and Ust-Luga, located north and west of Saint Petersburg, were also targeted again.
kyiv has stepped up strikes on targets on the peninsula in a bid to pressure the Kremlin into peace talks.
So far, it has chosen to increase its deadly attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Multiple reports suggest Zelensky will meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit, which begins Tuesday in Ankara, Turkey.
In his message on
“The United States and Europe have enough power to put an end to this terror,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine’s “urgent” need to strengthen its air defense would be discussed at the summit.
